


Quiet Night

by miss_aligned



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Mass Effect 3, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-10
Updated: 2016-06-10
Packaged: 2018-07-14 07:40:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7160429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miss_aligned/pseuds/miss_aligned
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(A prompt from <a href="http://mssticha.tumblr.com/">@mssticha</a>)</p><p>Unexpected noise in the apartment puts Kaidan on edge, but the source brings quite the smile to his face.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Quiet Night

The apartment was quiet when Kaidan walked in at the end of an exceedingly long day. He hadn’t expected the many meetings he’d had to stretch so far into the night, but he remembered with a small smirk that Shepard had warned him of that inevitability. She knew and expected talks with Alliance brass to be long-winded and tangential. He, on the other hand, had been foolishly optimistic.

He laid his jacket across the back of the couch as he passed it by, aiming next for the refrigerator. Kaidan took the opportunity to stretch his back as he leaned down and in to retrieve a cold beer. He sighed with contentment as he nudged the door closed and leaned back on the counter. In one smooth motion, he opened the bottle and lifted it to drink, as though it came to him as second nature.

With a satisfied smack of his lips, he returned to the living room to stare out beyond the immense windows as lights flashed and vehicles flew past. It wasn’t quite the same as looking out over countless stars, but it was somehow calming to watch all the activity happening below regardless. The bustle and action of the Silversun Strip was an interesting juxtaposition to the peaceful crackle of the apartment’s fireplace.

Kaidan froze, bottle held to his lips, when he heard a loud thud. He turned and quickly scanned the upper floor for any sign of danger or movement. For a moment, he wondered if he’d imagined the noise or if he’d incorrectly guessed that it had originated from within the theoretically empty apartment. His brow furrowed when he heard another heavy thump, knowing with certainty that it had come from upstairs.

He set the beer aside and crept forward with all the grace and silence of a cat. His soldier’s training immediately kicked in, and he drew a pistol from his side as he pushed forward to investigate. Shepard was still out with Liara, he knew, which meant that the noise could only indicate an intruder. He’d figured that it was only a matter of time before reporters, fans, or enemies caught on to the fact that Commander Shepard had ascertained an apartment here.

He raised the weapon, preparing to fire on whatever clueless mercenary, Cerberus operative, or irritated batarian that happened to want Shepard dead at that particular moment. He noiselessly stalked down the hall, a wave of blue energy sweeping across his skin as he prepared for whatever might greet him on the other side of the bedroom door.

Kaidan paused with a hand on the door, straining to hear anything out of the ordinary from within the room. A low grunt caught his attention, causing adrenaline to flood his veins as he prepared to confront the criminal. With a quick flick of his wrist, he silently opened the door and slipped inside, gun trained on the area near the bed from where he’d guessed the noise had emanated.

The scene before him was not one he’d anticipated. His grip on the pistol faltered as he laid eyes on the woman resting face-up, with feet dangling just above the floor and arms spread wide across the bed. She didn’t even glance in his direction, nor flinch at his presence as he stepped closer.

“Kaidan, put the gun down,” Shepard said as she stared blankly at the ceiling.

“What are you doing?” He asked, stowing the gun away and offering her his hand.

“I’m stuck.”

“What?”

“This stupid dress,” she said with exasperation heavy in her tone.

“It looks great,” he commented as he helped her to stand and let his eyes rove over her form. He took a silent moment to appreciate the way it hugged her curves. Only then did he realize that his heartrate was still elevated even after the adrenaline rush had subsided.

“Yeah, well, I’m stuck.”

“Stuck? In a dress?” He tried to mask the chuckle threatening to burst through his questions. “That can happen? How exactly did you manage to get stuck in there?”

“The zipper broke.”

“You know,” he began as he stepped around her, admiring the Commander in this unusual attire and thus completely distracted from the answer to his previous questions. “I thought someone had broken in. I was ready to kill an intruder up here.”

“Oh yeah,” Shepard responded as she turned and curled her arms behind his neck. “You pull a gun on me again and we’re going to have a problem.” The words, coming from such a dangerous woman, might have frightened him if it weren’t for the wry smile creeping across her lips.

His hands instinctively found her hips as he grinned down at her, stealing a quick kiss while he had her close. “Noted. And sorry, I wasn’t expecting you to be home so early. Is there a story behind all of this?” His fingers gently swept across the fabric of the dress along her sides and he snickered at her rather obvious shiver.

“Liara thought it would be fun to dress up and go out like ‘normal people’ do. Then we were both too distracted by incoming messages to actually enjoy ourselves and we decided to call it a night. I just… I can’t focus. I think I’d better leave the celebrations until after we win the war.”

His head cocked to the side slightly as he observed her lower lip jutting out ever-so-slightly. “Are you pouting?”

“I just want to be comfortable and this stupid dress isn’t helping,” she quietly answered. She released her grip on him and turned around. “Would you mind?”

His hands shifted from her hips to slide slowly up her arms. The grin never left his lips as he leaned down and gave in to the urge to press slow, soft kisses to her exposed shoulders and neck. A sigh escaped her as her eyes fluttered shut. He made achingly gradual progress toward the offending dress closure.

“Don’t mind if I do.”


End file.
